Wednesday, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci called on unvaccinated NBA players to listen to messaging from NBA Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar regarding the coronavirus vaccine.
Fauci told MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that ahead of the league’s upcoming season that players need to know the importance of getting vaccinated.
“[T]he situation is obviously, we would like to see essentially all of the players, for the general safety, to get vaccinated,” Fauci outlined. “What I would say, that players tend to listen to their own and their peers as trusted messengers. So, I would suggest that the players who don’t get vaccinated listen to Magic Johnson and listen to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Those are the individuals that are the trusted messengers. I was just listening to what Kareem was saying last night on TV. He has a very good message about the importance of getting vaccinated.”
He also suggested Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James would be a good influence on the unvaccinated players.
“[H]e is such an iconic superstar that he’s somebody that virtually everybody, whether you’re a basketball player or not, look up to for the things he has done with his life, his athletic skills; so, he is really truly an important, trusted messenger,” Fauci advised.
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